A Moral Lesson Part 2
by ashes of roses1
Summary: The second part of the story revolving around Gwen, Noah, Ethan and Theresa. Find out what happens after Theresa's angry confrontation with Noah....


A man dressed in a delivery suit knocked on the front door of the Lopez-Fitzgerald's home door. "Are you Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald?" he asked, reading the name from a slip of paper.

"Yes," Theresa said that Saturday morning.

"These are for you," he replied, giving her a clipboard which she signed. He went to his truck, emerging a minute later with a big case of two dozen roses and a card attached to it.

Theresa thanked him and closed the door behind her as she brought the beautiful roses inside to the kitchen. Sitting down on the breakfast table, she read the small card.

_"Dear Theresa," _it read, _"I am truly sorry for my inappropriate behavior. Please forgive me, because I don't want to lose your friendship. Love, Noah."_

She placed the card face-down, but found herself basking in the fresh scent the roses gave off. It was so sweet, and she did not think so about just the roses… The gesture itself tasted nicely. She contemplated paying him a visit.

The next day, Gwen had invited Noah to the local country club with her and Ethan for a round of golf. She figured this was a good time as any for the two brothers to bond. Noah still was holding his distance from his half brother, but he seemed to be somewhat welcoming his presence bit by bit. She just hoped his acceptance to her invitation was not from a cause other than the reason of quality time spent with his half-brother.

Oh, who was she kidding?! Of course she wanted another reason for Noah to be there other than to get to know Ethan! She wanted to see him, to have him so close to her the way he was in that hotel room two weeks ago. _She wanted to feel those lips again as they softly grazed hers…._

"Snap yourself out of it, Gwen," she scolded herself. "You have Ethan to think of. Plus Noah is with Theresa now."

She met Ethan at her family's mansion at 1:00 pm like planned, and from there they made their way to the Bennett residence to take Noah to the Harmony Country Club.

__

"Hi, Noah," they both greeted the younger man.

"Hi, Ethan," he replied, nodding as he said, "Gwen."

She smiled nervously. This wasn't going to be easy. Those eyes hinted only for a second what he was thinking, but they were enough. Unseen by anyone else, especially Ethan, she could feel a surge of flirtatious gust waiting to burst from within herself.

"Let me drive, sweetheart," Gwen insisted, placing a hand on Ethan's.

"Sure," Ethan laughed, turning to Noah, who was already climbing into the backseat. "Women. They always have to get their way."

Noah laughed in response, his eyes fixated on what he could see of Gwen from the rear view mirror.

Maybe I shouldn't have volunteered to drive, Gwen thought to herself. Noah is sitting right behind me and even when I'm not looking, I could feel those jade eyes staring at me provocatively.

"So are you and Theresa dating now?" Ethan asked, turning around in his seat to look at his brother.

"Oh, umm," Noah shifted in his seat, not missing the intense look on Gwen's face in the mirror. "It's kind of complicated."

"What's so complicated about it?" Ethan asked, confused. "You either are or you aren't."

"Well we had a bit of a fight," he admitted. "And I'm not sure where we stand right now."

"I could talk to her for you," Ethan offered, receiving a quick cry of "No!" from both Gwen and Noah.

"What?" he chuckled, surprised. "Why not?"

"Because," Noah began a cycle of stammering. "I, uh, don't want anyone getting involved. I can, umm, deal with it."

"Yeah, honey," Gwen was quick to add. "I'm sure whatever problems Noah is having with Theresa he can deal on his own."

"Ok," Ethan said, satisfied as he turned back to seating position.

Gwen looked up at Noah and saw him give her the most seductive grin she had ever seen. She quickly looked away, these emotions rising inside of her being tugged every which way. What did Noah want? It seemed like he was still very much interested in her, but then again he was with Theresa now. Or at least trying to make it work with Theresa. So why was he confusing her with all these differing signs?

They reached the club moments later, and Ethan wandered to say hello to some old friends, promising to meet them in fifteen minutes. Gwen nodded reluctantly. She didn't want to be alone with Noah right now because who knew what could happen if they were to interact. Plus, she didn't want anyone in her social circles thinking she was with this younger man.

"Let's go walking," she said, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the spacious lawns.

"What is going on?" she asked once they were out of sight and out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"I mean with all these looks you keep giving me. Noah, I want you to tell me what's going on in that head of yours."

"Tell me something, Gwen," he said instead. "When you told Ethan that I can deal with by myself about the problems I'm having with Theresa you didn't mean that so he won't get involved right? You meant that so I won't get with Theresa and well -"

"Well what?"

"Get with you."

She snorted out a laugh. "Get with me? You're kidding right? Don't you see I have a boyfriend?"

"Yes, but I also see how I affect you."

Unable to deny it, she was silent as he went on with another round of convincing words. "I know you were jealous that day you saw me with Theresa."

"I was not," she insisted, shrugging. "Just surprised that's all."

"Surprised because you didn't think I could be interested in a girl like her?"

"Surprised because I _know _you can't be interested in a girl like her!"

"And why not?"

"Because you just seem like the type who needs someone stronger in their life. You need a woman who can keep you on your toes and challenge your beliefs and make you a better person."

"So you're saying I need you in my life, then?"

"What? No -"

"Because that's exactly everything you are."

She frowned, warmed by the compliment but still upset at the triangular predicament she was now in. "Noah, I'm flattered, but -"

"Say no more," he interrupted, remembering then and there his promise to himself not too long ago: he wouldn't play with two women like this ever again. "I understand," he said solemnly. "Maybe if the situation was more permitting of it, we could have became something."

"Yeah, maybe," she admitted it.

"Ok," he forced a smile.

A conclusion may have been reached between them, but she still felt there was something missing. Some unfinished business. So she took the bull by the horn; she grabbed him by his shirtsleeve and brought his lips into a soft kiss.

"Let's get back," she said softly, breaking away from the kiss. "I'm sure Ethan is waiting 

for us."

"Yeah," he said slowly, averting his eyes as he sighed. "Let's go."

She observed the features on his face. He looked unhappy but accepting of what they had just discussed. She squeezed his hand in a friendly gesture as they walked up the small hill back to the golf course.

"There you guys are!" Ethan greeted them minutes later. "Where have you been?"

They shared a knowing glance, but neither offered a response. They made their way to the first hole but were met with a group of people.

"My, my, if it isn't Gwen!" came a shrewd, haughty male voice.

"Gary," Gwen admonished her ex-boyfriend, who had two of her former society friends with him as well as another man around her age.

"It's been too long, Gwennie," said a brunette named Linda.

"Not long enough," she muttered prudently.

"Oh, is that any way to treat your friends?" she asked, before her gaze fell on Noah and Ethan and she moved to the next subject on her mind. "And who are these fine gentlemen?" She sent a seductive grin in their direction.

"You remember Ethan, Linda," Gwen informed her, shaking her head at the woman's lost sense of short term memory. "And this is his half-brother Noah."

"Watch out for her, Ethan man," Gary said. "She's not the easiest fish to fry."

"Let's get out of here," Gwen insisted, grabbing Ethan's hand.

"Did I say something wrong, Gwen?" Gary asked innocently, liking the effect he was having on her. "It's the truth and you know it."

"You haven't changed," she told him spitefully, as Ethan dragged her way from Linda, Gary and the others, with Noah following behind.

"I'm sorry about that," Gwen said as they got back in the car, the matter of playing golf forgotten.

"Don't be sorry," Noah spoke up. "Obviously that guy was just a jerk and the girls he was hanging around were no better."

Gwen didn't say anything, but the impact of his words seemed to hit her on a positive side. "What do you two want to do now?" she asked.

"I'm kind of beat," Noah said, seeing the look of reluctance on Ethan's face. But before he would let him say a word, he added, "Maybe we can do something else another day."

"Definitely," Ethan replied, and Gwen nodded.

They parted ways, with Ethan and Gwen dropping off Noah in front of his house, where, to all their surprise, sat Theresa on the front porch to the empty house, seemingly waiting for Noah to arrive.

She stood up when the car pulled into the driveway.

"Go get 'em," Ethan cheered on his brother and Noah sheepishly stepped out of the car, waving goodbye. The last thing he saw before closing the door was Gwen's horrified face until it disappeared from view.

"Hi," Noah said, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants.

"Hi," she replied back, tossing her hair behind a shoulder. "I got your little note. And the flowers."

"I hope you know how sorry I am," Noah said, looking into her brown eyes.

"I do," she said reassuringly, reaching up to give him a hug, one that he seemed to hold on to more than was appropriately expected. "I'm glad everything's settled," Theresa said in a small voice, the feel of him having affected her, but not as much as the intense look in his eye, telling her that he wanted to relive that kiss they had shared not too long ago in his car.

"Me too," Noah grinned. "So what are you doing tonight?"

"I don't have any plans," Theresa replied. "What about you? Was that Ethan driving the car?"

"Yeah it was," Noah admitted. "Gwen suggested that Ethan and I get to know each other better. So we all went to the country club."

"Oh," Theresa grew impassive at the mention of Gwen.

"Hey, how about we double date tonight?" Noah blurted out. "I'm sure they would love to go do something fun with the two of us."

"Double date?" Theresa asked unsurely. His letter had commented on how he wanted to keep on to their friendship, not that he wanted to pursue anything romantic. But maybe she had understood him wrong….

"Sure," Noah attempted to persuade. "You would go on a date with me, wouldn't you, Theresa?"

"Of course," she insisted. "But, well, Ethan and Gwen aren't too fond of me right now. So I don't think it's such a good idea."  
"Oh, come on, it will be fun! Plus, you guys can work through whatever problems you all had with each other."

She shrugged. "I guess it's worth a try," she said forcedly.

"Great, then," Noah beamed. "Let me call Ethan right now and run it with him and Gwen."

"Wait a minute, Noah," Theresa said, putting a hand over his cell phone. "Wasn't there something going on between you and Gwen?"

He put the phone back into his pocket, sighing. "Not really. I was fascinated by her, but I suppose that was so because she was older, sophisticated and highly unavailable. Plus the fact that she turns out to be my half brother's girlfriend. It was nothing. You're the one I want to have something real with."

"Are you sure?" Insecurity dripped like the words from her mouth.

"Yes," he said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "That is, if you still want me."

She smiled. "Call Ethan," she said, squeezing his hand.

He drove his car through the bright lights of the town where they would meet Gwen and Ethan at an Italian restaurant.

They pulled to the restaurant, Noah stepping out and rushing to open the door for Theresa while the valet got inside and went to park the car.

"Hi!" Gwen and Ethan greeted them at the front of the restaurant.

"Hello," Noah replied with equal enthusiasm, but Theresa grew pensive and seemed to pull away as she softly said a "Hi," before grabbing Noah's hand and suggesting they go inside.

They were seated, and quickly placed their orders, chatting before the food would come. Theresa and Gwen avoided direct conversation with each other, and it was only when Theresa excused herself to go to the bathroom did Gwen even acknowledge her presence. "I'll come with you," she replied, standing up.

"Play nice you two," Ethan called out to them. He shook his head as they both frowned and walked off.

"Those two don't like each other too much, do they?" Noah questioned his brother.

"They hate each other," Ethan admitted simply. "Gwen hates her especially, but Theresa seems to be moving on from the whole issue. But then again, she wasn't as affected from the deal as Gwen was."

"What deal are you talking about, Ethan?" Noah asked, confused. He knew that Theresa had a past with Ethan but that he had chosen Gwen over her.

Ethan took a sip of his drink before relaying the story over to his half-brother.

Theresa used the bathroom, stepping out of the stall a minute later to wash her hands, while Gwen was in front of the mirror, reapplying makeup.

"You having a good time?" Theresa offered, wanting to get rid of the stony silence.

__

"Fantastic," she replied sarcastically. "But I want to know one thing. What are you doing here with Noah?"

"We're on a date, Gwen," she said pointedly.

"You don't deserve him," she scoffed.

"Oh and you do?" Theresa retaliated, her anger rising as she frowned. "I know you and him had something going on, but he made it seem like it was just attraction. But I heard you say something like 'here's the clothes you brought for me to the Hotel.' I'm not stupid, I know what that means. Funny," she paused to catch her breath. "I always thought you would be loyal to Ethan, even after he wasn't completely loyal to you."

"You bitch!" Gwen yelled. "Ethan may have been disloyal once, but he did come back to me. Or did you forget?"

"I didn't forget," Theresa shook her head. "But I also am glad he did because now I'm free to date a great guy like Noah. But hear this, Gwen. Noah is taken and you better not try to come between us!"

"I'm not like you, Theresa," Gwen responded simply, no anger obvious in her tone of voice. "I don't steal another woman's man."

She walked out the door, with the final say, leaving Theresa jaw-struck there in the ladies room.

"Everything ok?" Ethan asked Gwen once she returned to the table. She only nodded solemnly, grabbing her drink and taking a sip, her eyes not looking at Theresa who sat down a moment later. Both men looked between the two women but got no response from either of them.

"Can you guys put your differences aside just for tonight?" Noah asked Gwen and Theresa. "We're here to have fun, not act angry about the past!"

Theresa nodded and Gwen said a yes in response. They returned to their food and after paying the waiter, made their way to the local bowling center.

"I had so much fun tonight," Theresa exclaimed once they parted ways with Ethan and Gwen.

"So did I," Noah agreed.

"I don't want it to end," Theresa whispered in a soft voice in the car.

He turned to look at her, the car keys still in his hand. He started the engine a moment later, contemplating her words. Seeing the car roar to life, he acknowledged her words with an "It doesn't have to."

She smiled knowingly as he took the car further down the direction they had come from.

"Where are we going?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Well you said you don't want the night to end," he said. "So I'm not going to let you go until daybreak."

"Oh, Noah, I meant -" she began to protest.

"I know," he said, stopping her. "But just trust me ok?"

"Okay," she relented as he drove down the coast in the direction of the beach.

"Did you have fun, babe?" Ethan asked Gwen as they rode to his apartment.

"Sure," Gwen said monotonously, looking out the window.

Ethan picked up on her melancholy tone and probed the question on his mind. "What did you and Theresa argue about?" Ethan asked curiously.

"How do you know we argued?" Gwen asked, turning to face him.

"It was obvious from the animosity I felt when you both returned to our table."

"It doesn't matter," Gwen said, dismissing the topic with a wave of her hand. "The point is, we got over it. We all ended up having a good time, didn't we?"

"Of course we did," Ethan replied. "I definitely think we should do it again."

"We'll see," Gwen mumbled, blinking back the tears from her eyes.

The tears surprised even her; she couldn't figure out where they came from. Why was she shedding tears when she had just spent time with three other people who she, for the most part, had had fun with?

She recalled the conversation she had had with her parents last night. Wary of her relationship with Ethan that seemed to be going nowhere, they gave her the ultimatum of either pushing him to propose to her, or look to someone who was more capable of giving her the family she should have already had at her age.

She reminded them of Ethan's new financial status and how he no longer was as capable of providing for her or for himself the way he used to. But that protest on her part only led them to beg her to set her sights on a more financially secure individual. Gary Reynolds, the man she had encountered again after a three year absence at the golf course was who her parents wanted her to be involved with. A former relationship with him only added to the fact that the familiarity level between Gary and Gwen would be high. Gwen could only imagine her mother having called up Gary and the Reynolds family and _casually_ informing them of the fact that her daughter would be at the Country Club the next day, where she had ended up seeing Gary. The pieces were fitting for Gwen, and even though she didn't want to admit it, she could see herself falling victim to her parents' dreams of her marrying rich.

"Gwen?" Ethan asked, stopping the car in front of his apartment. "You seem distracted. Everything ok?"

"It's my parents, Ethan," Gwen mumbled. "You know they're still under the whole mentality of marrying rich."

"Yeah," Ethan murmured slowly, not liking where her words seemed to be headed. "What does that mean for us?" Ethan asked, his voice rising in anger at the thought that he could lose Gwen because of her parents' wishes for her to marry something he no longer was.

He moved towards the kitchen, getting a glass of water to quench his thirst and the pain in his throat that came from the loud cries he directed at her.

She started to cry, the likelihood of what she had to say affecting her as she began to let out tears.

"What does that mean for us dammit?!" Ethan yelled, wanting an answer.

"It means that if you were ever to ask me to marry you again, I can't say yes!" she shrieked.

"Dammit!" he yelled out louder than before. He smashed the glass against the wall behind her.

She shrieked in pain, covering her head with her hands to shield herself.

"I can't lose you, Gwen," he said, his eyes having grown wide. That only brought her to more tears. "I can't," he whispered again, coming closer to grab her into a hug on the couch.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry," he replied. "Just tell me you want to be with me and tell you're parents that you don't want anyone else."

"I-" she whispered as he dried her tears. "I can't!"

She ran out the door before he could stop her. Running blindly with her hair getting into her face, she sprinted aimlessly, not realizing she was going in the direction of the Harmony Beach.

Noah once again cupped Theresa's face, kissing her lightly on the lips. They sat on the sand with a blanket underneath them, watching the tide come in and out in natural rhythm.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Noah asked her.

"It's great," Theresa said with much enthusiasm.

He reached over to kiss her again, but both were interrupted by the loud cries coming from a source nearby.

"Gwen?" Theresa asked, flabbergasted to see her, especially in her disheveled condition.

"What's the matter?" Noah asked, concerned.

Theresa could feel her jealousy rise as Noah got a towel, draping it smoothly against Gwen's shoulders. The weather was warm for the night, but the tide brought out a cool breeze that made her shiver.

"Ethan and I are over!" she shrieked.

"What?" Noah and Theresa blurted out simultaneously.

"Oh you'd just love to hear that wouldn't you?" Gwen yelled at Theresa spitefully.

Before Theresa could so much as open her mouth to retort, Noah put a soft hand on her shoulder, quieting her. "Let me take you ladies home," he said firmly. "We can talk about what happened after we all relax."

They packed up everything as Gwen stood motionless. She eyed the cool waters until they mirrored the ones on her face, who, although similar in intensity, was hot in nature.

"Let's go," Noah suggested once everything was packed. He ushered both women into the car, with Gwen sitting in the backseat.

"Now do you want to tell us what happened, Gwen?" Noah asked gently, completely attuned to her painful expression and attitude.

She softly shook her head side to side. He nodded in response.

"Theresa," he said, turning to face her. "You're house is closer. How about I take you home first?"

He turned to the engine, starting up the car, hardly noticing the sneer marked on Theresa's face.

"Damn _both _of you!" she yelled, looking at Noah then Gwen.

"Why are you yelling?" Noah could feel his voice rising as well, but couldn't help lash out in anger.

"This is some kind of game," she went on to say. "You," she pointed her finger at Gwen, "come here playing the damsel in distress and won't even tell us what the reason is behind your so called _dis_tress. And you," she turned back to Noah. "You and I were having a great time but as soon as she comes along, you forget all about me."

"It's not like that at all, Theresa!" Noah exclaimed. "Haven't I shown you tonight how much I care about you?"

"He does care, Theresa," Gwen murmured, not wanting to ruin the chances between Noah and Theresa as much as that of 12 hours ago.

"I don't need you to justify anything for him, Gwen," Theresa shouted. "As far as I'm concerned, maybe it is a good thing that Ethan dumped you! You and Noah can finally have each other."

Noah, who up until that point had been attempting to salvage things with Theresa by way of explanation, was tired of her rants and insecurities that he was sure she had been over when she had agreed to the double date earlier tonight.

"Here's your stop," he said monotonously, not even stepping out of the car to open the door for her, or to kiss her goodnight.

"Thanks for nothing!" Theresa hissed, stepping out of the vehicle and slamming it as hard as she could.

The car drove off as she stormed inside. Turning the corner from the street, Noah drove through the desolate streets of the small town.

"So what happened?" Noah asked, his eyes looking into Gwen's from the rearview mirror.

"We had a fight. And I feel like it's over. There's no way we can get over this," Gwen shook her head, point made.

"But you guys were so good together!" Noah exclaimed. "How can that just end-"

_"Were _we good, Noah?" Gwen cried. "Because as far as I'm concerned, we have never been the picture perfect couple. He dumped me for Theresa two years ago! He cancelled our wedding the night before we were to wed each other. And then we find out that he's not a Crane by blood and I not only lose the man I love, my parents lose the chance to keep the business merger they had planned with the Cranes. And for what? Now we're back together and I know he loves me but -"

Noah sat back in his seat, stunned. "You guys were once engaged to be married?"

"Yeah," Gwen nodded. "Now that we're back together, he's asked me to take things slowly. And we have. But there's no way we can take anything in any way now."

"But why?" Noah pressed. "What happened, Gwen?"

"It was awful!" she sobbed. "I had to end things because my family's financial status is bad and they need me to marry rich so we don't go bankrupt."

He pulled the car inside a parking lot, stepping out to help her.

"Where are we?" Gwen wondered, looking outside the car window. Squinting, she read the closest store's lights. "Millie's Café?"

"Right," he said, offering her a hand. "It can't compare to the last place we went alone together, but I figured it's as good as any place to talk."

The grin on his face could only produce one out of her. He locked the car and they walked inside.

"It's not even open now, Noah," Gwen whined, having grown fond of the idea that they would get the chance to sit down in a quiet place and converse.

"Oh," Noah's face was crestfallen. "I guess I forgot how late it is."

"I know another place that stays open all night," Gwen suggested. "But it's in Castleton."

Noah nodded, contemplating. "Why not?" he said after a moment. "Doesn't look like I'm going to sleep any time soon anyway."

"I'm sorry if I'm keeping you," Gwen said kindly.

"You're not," he assured her. "Just lead the way."

"I don't think you should give up on my brother," Noah said as soon as they sat in the coffeehouse miles away from their homes. "He loves you and I know you feel the same way."

"I do, but I care about my parents too. I know they're relying on me to keep the family financially secure."

"But it's too great of a burden for you to bear."

Gwen took a sip of her coffee. "Is it, though? They just want me to marry someone within my social circles. Like that guy you met earlier today at the golf course. He's the exact kind of person they want me to marry."

"He's not right for you," Noah admitted. "He was too cocky. You need a man who is like you but not more intimidating than yourself."

Gwen found familiarity of her self in his words but also felt a simultaneous sense of discomfort at his accurate analysis of her. "And what makes you think you know who is right for me?"

Before he could say a word, she went on. "You don't even know me."

He fiddled with the straw in his drink, absorbing her less than friendly words. It hadn't insulted him, but he could feel a conflict arising if he didn't play his words well in return. "Oh, I wouldn't say that," he said casually after some ponderous silence. "I might not know you well enough, but I am very observant and aware of people's perceptions and attitudes."

"That may be so," she asserted. "But who are you to say what kind of man is right for me?"

"Can we drop the subject?" Noah asked in a somewhat perturbed tone of voice. She had hit the mark with those words and he withdrew in emotional recourse as a result.

"Ok," Gwen replied slowly, as she keenly examined Noah's physical stance on the matter at hand.

They sipped their lattes in silence for the next few minutes, both lost in their own cognitive auras.

A day passed and Theresa woke to the tranquility of Spring weather. Her first thought was of last night. She couldn't recall having been on a better date in all of her dating history, but the sour way in which things had ended had left her neutralized about the matter. How dare Noah place Gwen's needs above her own when he had solemnly vowed that it was Theresa he wanted a relationship with!

Theresa got out of bed, getting dressed as she decided the best thing to do was to go over to Noah's to talk this through with him face-to-face.

Half an hour later, she was on his front porch, knocking on the door.

"Hi, Theresa," a confused Kay answered.

"Hi, Kay," Theresa replied, being led inside. "I came to talk to Noah."

Kay's face fell. "I thought he was with you. He never came home from your date last night."

Theresa's face became marked with a combination of worry and anger. So Noah's little rendezvous with Gwen had not been limited to just driving her home from Theresa's house. He had most likely spent the whole night with her.

Reeling with anger, Theresa turned to go.

"Wait, Theresa," Kay called. "Is everything ok?"

"No," she called over her shoulder. "But they will be."

Closing the door behind her, Theresa took out the cell phone in her purse and began dialing a familiar phone number.

"So Noah is involved with Gwen?" Ethan questioned Theresa.

They sat in the Book Café. Theresa had called him and asked to meet somewhere they could talk. He had complied after being told that her choice to meet was a result of Gwen's case as well as Noah's. He hadn't understood what she had meant when he had associated Noah's name to Gwen, but now as he had listened intently to her every word, he figured out what was happening between the two.

Theresa nodded. "She was running aimlessly it seemed towards the beach last night after our double date. Noah and I were there and we saw her. He volunteered to drive us home and dropped me off first. It couldn't have been more obvious how he wanted to spend his time consoling her rather than continuing his date with me."

"So let me get this straight," Ethan said, anger in his voice. "This whole time since Noah returned to town, Gwen has been cheating on me?"

"Oh I wouldn't say cheating, exactly," Theresa replied, playing around with the words. "But she definitely has been having some inappropriate meetings and such with my ex-boyfriend."

The hurt features on her first loves face made her sympathetic as she stopped discussing Noah and moved on to focusing on Ethan. She brought a wavering but gentle hand towards Ethan's arm. She was hesitant, because she knew that if she didn't play it right he would think her gestures were more romantic than the platonic they truly were. And whereas she still cared deeply for Ethan, she would not allow herself to fall back in love with him, the way she had done so the first time.

"I can't believe this is happening!" Ethan said, shaking his head, aware of Theresa's fingers on his arm but downplaying them. "She was the only thing stationary in my life. I never thought I'd lose her. I wonder if she made up that story about having to end things with me because her parents wanted her to marry rich. It was probably just a plausible excuse of hers."

"Wait, weren't you the one who broke up with her?" Theresa wondered, confused. "She was crying when I saw her and she said something about you and her being over."

"I didn't break up with her," Ethan confirmed. "We didn't really end things but she admitted that she couldn't go behind her parents' wishes. And that implied that she can't carry on with me anymore."

"So she's going to carry on with Noah?" Theresa questioned, producing a shrugging of the shoulders from Ethan.

"Look," Theresa continued. "I'm not the biggest fan of Gwen, but I do know that she's smart. She would never dump you to go out with a guy that is younger than her and less likely to provide for her."

Ethan ignored those words, as he thought about Gwen's motives. "I wonder if she just agreed to the double date with you and Noah so she'd see him again."

Theresa gulped down the lump in her throat. "I don't know," she answered, but she too began to wonder the same thing.

"I wonder what Ethan is doing right now," Gwen wondered to herself. She was outside in the balcony in Marquis Hotel in a robe.

"Did you sleep well, Gwen?" Noah questioned her, sneaking behind her and squeezing her waist.

"Oh, just fine," Gwen grinned, turning around to greet him. "Thanks for last night," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek.

"You're welcome," he said, his eyes sparkling.

She became stiff in his hold as her mind registered the events of early last night. Her date with Ethan for example.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I feel so guilty, Noah," Gwen admitted. "What we did to Ethan and Theresa was not fair of us."

"No, it wasn't," Noah agreed. "After all, we both care deeply about them. But then again, there's just something about getting away from your usual setting and talking to someone new. Aren't I right?"

She couldn't deny that he was. "It doesn't make me feel any less guilty, though. I still have to break up with Ethan and Theresa probably thinks something is going on between the two of us."

"But there isn't," he confessed. "I just have to convince her of it. And you have to convince your parents that you can't marry that Gary guy."

"Oh, Noah," she admonished, bringing a hand to his cheek. "You know my parents are unwavering on the matter."

"I know," he replied, his eyes mysteriously eerie. "But I also know you won't go through with it."

"What -"

"You have too much self-respect to get yourself into a loveless marriage like that. Because the money is fine, but you care about the person just as much. Like with Ethan for example, it was less about the money and more about love."

She didn't dismiss the fact that he had called her in on who she was. When he had done it last night, she had been reserved, but this morning, especially after everything they had been through since the time they had spent in the coffeeshop, she felt more accepting of his claims on her personality and ways.

"Ethan…." Gwen's voice drifted. "Love." Her eyes clouded as she recalled all the good times with Ethan.

"Follow your heart, no matter what," Noah advised her.

"I will," Gwen agreed. Her arms met his in a hug and they both turned to make their way back to Harmony.

part 3 on its way soon


End file.
